541,237 used cars changed hands in Ireland during the first six months of 2014, an increase of 19% on the same period in 2013, according to findings of the fourth Carzone.ie Motoring Report.

The report is a bi-annual index which tracks trends in both the new and used car markets in Ireland. Data has been compiled using the 100 million searches carried out on Carzone.ie during the first six months of the year, vehicle transactions listed on Cartell.ie<http://www.cartell.ie> and an in-depth survey of over 2,500 motorists nationwide.
Once again, the results reveal that German car marques remain most popular among Irish car buyers, with the Volkswagen Golf topping the list as most searched for used car model on the market. The BMW 5 Series ranks in second place, followed by the BMW 3 Series, the Ford Focus, the Audi A4 and the Volkswagen Passat. Overall, BMW is the most searched for marque, ahead of Volkswagen and Audi.

In line with previous reports and despite diesel prices stabilising, the top two financial concerns for motorists are still fuel costs and the price of road tax. Over 81% of Irish motorists continue to opt for diesel models, indicating a desire for better fuel economy. Although some 77% of those surveyed commute less than 100 kilometres per working day with over 50% travelling less than 25 kilometres, the desire for hybrid vehicles is not yet prevalent with less than 1% declaring they would consider purchasing a hybrid or electric power model for their next car.

Interestingly, the report shows a significant increase in Irish motorists opting for luxury used German car brands. Figures for the first six months of 2014 show a 27% increase in sales of Audi, followed by a 25% spike in BMW sales whiles Mercedes-Benz sales have grown by almost 24%.

When searching for a car, almost a quarter of buyers (22%) choose black as their colour preference, followed by silver, red and grey.

Of some concern, the report highlights that while the majority of motorists claim to understand new legislation regarding mobile phone usage, a worrying 91.5 per cent have witnessed another driver making a call or sending a text from a hand-held phone while driving.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Warren Cray, general manager at Carzone.ie, said: "Without doubt, these results point to a level of optimism in the market as used car transactions continue to rise. More than 100 million searches were carried out on Carzone.ie so far this year alone and we expect this figure to continue rising for the remainder of 2014. Indeed, over half of respondents to our survey plan to buy a car in the next six months while almost a quarter have already purchased a car this year so this would indicate the market is very much on the rise."